Parents work to make sure promised school becomes reality

New Glasgow - Local parents are taking proactive steps to ensure a new P-8 school previously pledged for New Glasgow is constructed, even as the cash-strapped provincial government looks for ways to cut the deficit.
The previous Conservative government announced last April that a P-8 school would replace the aging Acadia Street and Temperance Street elementary schools and New Glasgow Junior High, set to open in 2013.
As far as the Parents for New Glasgow Schools committee knows, the schools are still in the works - but they want to make sure it happens, says co-chair Paul Fraser. That's why he and fellow co-chair Deanna Mohamed met with Pictou Centre MLA Ross Landry Friday - to bring him up to speed and get his support for the project.
"We wanted to meet with Ross, let him know who we are and get him up to speed," Fraser said. "We want to make sure this school doesn't fall through any cracks."
There's reason for the concern - the province is in the process of holding meetings around the province to look at ways to cut a projected $1.4 billion deficit, looking at possibilities like increasing the HST by two per cent.
"We're concerned," admitted Fraser. "It's a hard enough time with the economy and cutbacks. We want to make sure this school is built."
The new schools will offer wonderful opportunities for students, added Mohamed.
"Going into a school that's gleaming and new does a lot for learning," she said, adding that students at the existing schools face challenges like having a music teacher and gym teacher split among various sites.
"It's time for a new school. If we want our children to compete in this century, we have to give them a current facility where these kids can do that."
Landry said the new school made a lot of sense for the area, adding that streamlining operational costs from three aging buildings would result in significant cost-savings in the long-term.
The new facility would also serve as a learning centre for the entire community, he added, to engage young people and adults alike in learning about an active lifestyle.